What I do with what I grow

 We eat it fresh through the season. DO you know how tempting it was just say" EAT IT"??? 😋 I needed the laugh.

  I can (water bath canner and pressure canner), freeze, and dehydrate for when not in season. 

I used to "store" 2 yrs. of food. During the pandemic I ended up way too low after helping kids, grandkids and a couple friends. Two of the kids are now growing small gardens. 

Hubby told me to aim for 3 yrs. (I do first in , first out) this time as we have 3 that might not get paid (but still have to report to work ) if the debt ceiling doesn't get taken care of. Been there and done that the last time that happened. AND 2 that are having female surgeries this summer.

Heart.org says you should eat 4 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggies a day per person. What I usually serve is 1/2 cup servings. That is 2 pints of fruit and 2 1/2 pints of veggies a DAY for the two of us.

That's 730 pints of fruit and 912 1/2 pints of veggies for a year.

 In my case I can 1460 pints of fruit (we don't eat the same fruit 2 days in a row) and 1825 pints of veggies for us for 2 yrs. 

That is not counting  the pints of, jam, jelly , fruit butter, pickles, relish, pie filling (for pancakes, French toast, waffles, cakes and ice cream), salsa, tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, or broths.

That's not counting the quarts of meat, beans, broth, soups, pasta sauce, tomato juice, grape juice. Or half pints of jams, pickled onions, pizza sauce and that types of things. 

Hubby asking for 3 yrs. Would be 2190 pints of fruit (minus what ever is left in the pantry) and 2737.5 pints of veggies (minus what ever is left in the pantry)

Since I freeze and dehydrate along with canning and I have large canners I can handle the increase. Plus he has no problem using the burner to the 3 turkey fryers to heat the water bath canners or sitting in the swing while watching them and timing them. Been and done that 5 yrs ago.

I would say most people don't think about how much they buy of anything when it's not done by season. MIL just told me Saturday that FIL asked why they have a case of green beans and a case of corn. She told him it would last 3 months... he didn't realize they ate one of week of each.